Jordan Jackson will play her final regular-season match at NU this Friday

Photo Courtesy Scott Bruhn/Nebraska Communications

Courtesy: NU Athletic Communications

10/30/2013

The Nebraska soccer team will play host to its regular-season finale this Friday, Nov. 1 with a match against the Indiana Hoosiers at 3:30 p.m. at the Nebraska Soccer Field. With a victory, the Huskers would clinch its first Big Ten regular-season title since 2000.

The careers of Emma Stevens, Ari Romero, Kylie Greischar, Stacy Bartels, Jordan Jackson and Maritza Hayes will be celebrated in a Senior Day ceremony scheduled for 15-minutes prior to the scheduled 3:30 p.m. start time.

For those unable to make it to Lincoln this Friday, follow all the action using the schedule page on Huskers.com with live stats and live video with a subscription on BTN.com. Be sure to follow the NU soccer team on Twitter at @NebraskaSoccer or ‘like’ Nebraska Soccer on Facebook.

Nebraska NotesThe Huskers have guaranteed its best finish in three years as a member of the Big Ten Conference and best league finish since 2005 when they finished second. The Scarlet and Cream are 61-23-12 in nine seasons of action at the Nebraska Soccer Field and currently 17-13 in three seasons of Big Ten competition. NU is coming off a memorable 3-2 double-overtime victory over then-No. 16 Penn State thanks to a Jaycie Johnson run and strike from 20 yards. Sunday’s victory snapped Penn State’s 15-year Big Ten title reign and was NU’s first win over PSU in three tries.

The 18th-ranked Huskers (14-3-1, 9-1 Big Ten) are on a five-game win streak and have won 12 of its last 13 matches for the first time since 2002 when NU rattled off 22 of its first 23 matches. NU has now scored in 15 consecutive matches, its longest streak since 2000 when Nebraska scored in its first 23 contests. The Scarlet and Cream currently have the 39th-rated scoring offense in all of Division I and are 11-0-1 when scoring 2 or more goals this season.

Nebraska has allowed just 19 goals in 18 matches this season, outscoring opponents by a 38-19 margin. The NU defense has been impressive on its way to a 20-9 conference advantage on the scoreboard especially considering Big Ten opponents have had 25 more corner kick opportunities (62-37).

The Huskers have been outshot in its last 10 matches but the defensive unit has excelled and become a story on its own. Nebraska has won nine conference matches for the first time since 2000 and have racked up 14 regular-season wins for the first time since 2001. The six shutouts for the Huskers this year are the most since 2005, which included the postseason.

This season is the first time with four conference shutouts since 2002 when the Big Red finished with 14 total shutouts, including 11 in the regular season. The last time NU notched six regular-season shutouts was also 2002.

In Big Ten action, NU has been outshot 185-138 but lead in shots on goal by a 64-40 margin, a true testament to the Nebraska defense as they routinely stonewall the their conference foes when quality scoring chances arise.

The Huskers have set the tone early in Big Ten matches and hold a 8-1 lead in first-half scoring in the conference, with the lone goal allowed at Wisconsin on Oct. 18 at the 30-minute mark. Nebraska improves its record to 10-0-1 this season when scoring first.

Husker Power on DefenseSeniors Ari Romero (91.5 mpg), Maritza Hayes (played every second in eight of last nine matches) and Kylie Greischar (82.7 mpg) along with sophomore Jaylyn Odermann have keyed the NU defense with all of them playing extensive minutes as of late. Although these defenders rarely make it to the stat sheet, their contributions on the field have been a key difference for this year’s NU squad.

Stevens Breaks Career Saves MarkNU senior goalkeeper Emma Stevens earned her 32nd career victory in net after posting seven saves on Sunday’s thrilling win over Penn State for her single-season career-best 14th win of the year.

Emma Stevens surpassed former Husker Erin Miller (239) on Sunday, Oct. 20 to become the all-time leader in saves at Nebraska. The graduate student made six stops in a 1-0 win at Minnesota to break the record and sits alone in first place with 254 career saves.

Stevens is near the top of several all-time NU goalkeeping categories, including second in minutes played (5,690), starts (63) and game played (66), while ranking fourth in wins (32) and sixth in shutouts (8).

Stevens has amassed a 0.87 goals-against average in Big Ten action allowing nine goals in 10 matches. In road league matches, Stevens boasted an impressive 0.77 GAA stopping 29 shots in five matches at a 87.9 percent clip.

Johnson Honored by Soccer SitesNebraska soccer freshman forward Jaycie Johnson was named Big Ten Freshman of the Week for the third time this season as announced by the Conference office on Monday. Johnson earned the award after notching a pair of scores, including the game winner in the 103rd minute, to defeat No. 16 Penn State in thrilling fashion on Sunday.

Johnson was also recognized on TopDrawerSoccer.com’s weekly Team of the Week as well as being named CollegeSoccer360.com’s National Freshman of the Week.

Scouting Indiana (RPI: 32, Bennett: 59, GL Region: 5)The Huskers will face the Hoosiers in the regular season finale as IU will be playing for a high seed, currently in third place in the league. Indiana has won its last three matches and are coming off a 1-0 victory against Wisconsin.

Indiana (13-4-1, 6-4-0 Big Ten) have been outscored in the conference schedule by a 16-15 edge. The Hoosiers outscored the opposition 20-2 during a 8-0-1 non-conference schedule. IU is led by senior Lisa Nouanesengsy’s nine goals and three assists. Indiana has clinched a berth in the Big Ten Tournament.

Jackson, Seniors Finishing in StyleJordan Jackson has been heating up as she has recorded goals in five of her last six matches. Jackson’s 34th career tally moves her into solo eighth place among all-time Husker goal scorers, while her 26 assists also rank eighth in program history.

Jackson has earned a point in 11 of her last 15 matches and is third in conference matches with 16 points. On the all-time lists at Nebraska, Jackson is fifth in shots (256), sixth in shots on goal (125) as well as ninth in points (94) and 10th in game-winning goals (8) all-time at NU.

Jackson’s five-point output marked the fifth time Jackson has amassed five points in a single match during her career. The Overland Park, Kan. native recorded three assists in the 4-0 road victory at Purdue on Oct. 11 for the second time in her career at Nebraska and is the fifth Husker to have three second-half helpers. The two-time all-conference honoree is the 17th Husker to earn at least three assists in one match.

Huskers on the National SceneNebraska soccer jumped up three spots to No. 18 in the latest National Soccer Coaches Association of America/Continental Tire Women’s Division I poll released on Tuesday. This marks the team’s fifth-consecutive week in the Top 25 and highest ranking since early September 2005.

NU also moved up four spots to No. 8 this week in the latest NCAA Women’s Soccer RPI rankings released on Monday afternoon. The RPI rankings are used by the NCAA Tournament selection committee to pick the 64-team field. The National Selection Show will take place on Nov. 11 at 3:30 p.m. CT. The NCAA Tournament will begin with First Round action taking place Nov. 15-17 at campus sites.

The Huskers made a jump up the Great Lakes Regional Rankings and are now No. 2 in the region. Michigan leads at No. 1 while Denver is No. 3 and Penn State sits at No. 4.

Leading at the Break?Nebraska is 205-5-5 all-time when leading at the half. In 30 all-time Big Ten Conference games, the Huskers have led at the half just 10 times, but are 7-0 this year in the conference holding halftime leads.

Big Ten TournamentThe Huskers will play in its second Big Ten Tournament starting next Wednesday, Nov. 6. First round matches will be streamed on the Big Ten’s Digital Network, while the semifinals and championship matches will be shown live on the Big Ten Network and BTN2Go.com.

First back-to-back shutouts in conference play since 2008 (Minnesota, Ohio State)

Third time in school history NU has won consecutive matches by a 1-0 final, both coming in conference play (1998, 1996)

Conference Scenarios

Nebraska would win the B1G title outright with a win

With a tie, NU would clinch at least a tie for the B1G title

With a loss, NU would have to wait for the result from Ohio State v. Michigan on Saturday, Nov. 2 at 5 p.m. CT. In this case, Michigan would need a victory to claim the B1G title and jump NU by one point.